Spam inundation

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  • Dave2002
    Full Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 17871

    Spam inundation

    I am getting increasingly fed up with the spam inundation which has been hitting my inbox for months now.

    I don't know where the mail all comes from, or how to stop it, but the mail typically has a header like:

    <_ Load of rubbish goes here >
    Are others affected by this particular junk, and is there a way to prevent it?

    It seems so distinctive that I fear I must have activated the flood somehow.
  • Richard Tarleton

    #2
    Yesterday my inbox was flooded by about 100 "delivery failure" notices from my e-mail server saying my emails to an engineering firm in Korea had failed ("bad destination no such user"). There were also a couple in a Chinese or Korean type script. I deleted them all, only a couple more overnight. If it happens again I'll telephone btinternet and complain.

    Comment

    • french frank
      Administrator/Moderator
      • Feb 2007
      • 29529

      #3
      Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
      I am getting increasingly fed up with the spam inundation which has been hitting my inbox for months now.

      I don't know where the mail all comes from, or how to stop it, but the mail typically has a header like:



      Are others affected by this particular junk, and is there a way to prevent it?

      It seems so distinctive that I fear I must have activated the flood somehow.
      The only spam I get regularly - not much - is from people in my address book whose accounts have been hacked.
      It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

      Comment

      • Serial_Apologist
        Full Member
        • Dec 2010
        • 36861

        #4
        Originally posted by french frank View Post
        The only spam I get regularly - not much - is from people in my address book whose accounts have been hacked.
        This has been happening to me a lot recently. "So that's what's happened", is what friends tell me whenever I ring to inform them.

        People will probably be amazed, including on here, when I tell them I have so far managed to stay free of personal ownership of a mobile phone, smart or otherwise. Hopefully I won't be around by the time we need them in order to stay alive.

        Comment

        • Richard Tarleton

          #5
          Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
          People will probably be amazed, including on here, when I tell them I have so far managed to stay free of personal ownership of a mobile phone, smart or otherwise. Hopefully I won't be around by the time we need them in order to stay alive.
          I at least own a mobile phone, S_A, albeit quite a stupid one. Actually I'm sure I've only accessed a minute portion of its capabilities and it probably thinks it's me that's stupid.

          Comment

          • PJPJ
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 1461

            #6
            Originally posted by Richard Tarleton View Post
            Yesterday my inbox was flooded by about 100 "delivery failure" notices from my e-mail server saying my emails to an engineering firm in Korea had failed ("bad destination no such user"). There were also a couple in a Chinese or Korean type script. I deleted them all, only a couple more overnight. If it happens again I'll telephone btinternet and complain.
            I had something similar a few weeks ago which BT nipped in the bud v quickly - you are advised to change your password.

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            • Richard Tarleton

              #7
              Originally posted by PJPJ View Post
              I had something similar a few weeks ago which BT nipped in the bud v quickly - you are advised to change your password.
              Thanks I'll do that.

              Comment

              • PJPJ
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 1461

                #8
                Originally posted by french frank View Post
                The only spam I get regularly - not much - is from people in my address book whose accounts have been hacked.
                Me, too. Sadly, mostly from BT addresses. Whether this is due to BT's large customer base, or ease of hacking I do not know.

                Again, a couple of weeks ago, Facebook closed my a/c temporarily until I changed my password, as they had evidence someone in Taiwan was attempting to hack the account.

                The advice is change passwords regularly.

                Comment

                • Serial_Apologist
                  Full Member
                  • Dec 2010
                  • 36861

                  #9
                  Originally posted by PJPJ View Post

                  The advice is change passwords regularly.
                  How will this stop one's friends sending hacked emails they don't know about?

                  Comment

                  • french frank
                    Administrator/Moderator
                    • Feb 2007
                    • 29529

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
                    How will this stop one's friends sending hacked emails they don't know about?
                    Don't know the answer to that but I've just checked all the spam for my accounts still stored on the server. Had to smile at the couple entitled, enticingly, 'Missed Voicemail' - there may have been thousands of them, for all I know: genuine callers will have learned that I don't even know where my small mobile is most of the time.
                    It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                    Comment

                    • Frances_iom
                      Full Member
                      • Mar 2007
                      • 2407

                      #11
                      you could pay for a spam service which forwards all your various inboxes via a spam filter to a private email that is only ever used for this purpose and your local mailbox can reject all input not originating from the mail forwarder - preferably the email box should be hosted on a site other than BT(which IMO is rapidly going down the screw the customers route) - a small ISP would be best.

                      I presume you have your inbox nailed down to reject HTML with javascript turned off and do not open any attached images unless you are confident of source (images often used as trackers to check if you have opened mail + also along with docx and especially pdf used as attack vectors) - also run your mail box on a Linux machine

                      Comment

                      • cloughie
                        Full Member
                        • Dec 2011
                        • 21997

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Richard Tarleton View Post
                        I at least own a mobile phone, S_A, albeit quite a stupid one. Actually I'm sure I've only accessed a minute portion of its capabilities and it probably thinks it's me that's stupid.
                        I have received strange emails which were supposedly sent from a sender's iPhone - strange because the sender does not have an iPhone!

                        Comment

                        • Serial_Apologist
                          Full Member
                          • Dec 2010
                          • 36861

                          #13
                          Originally posted by cloughie View Post
                          I have received strange emails which were supposedly sent from a sender's iPhone - strange because the sender does not have an iPhone!
                          What you've been sent is a giveaway. Not in that sense, of course. One click on that mysterious link, and what you may have is a takeaway.

                          Comment

                          • mangerton
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 3346

                            #14
                            Touch wood, I have some quite efficient spam filters, although on Thursday I received an email purporting to come from HMRC, saying I was due a tax rebate of £450.56, and would I send my bank details.

                            As we say in these parts, "Aye, right!"

                            (Scots is the only known language where a double positive equates to a negative.)

                            Comment

                            • Serial_Apologist
                              Full Member
                              • Dec 2010
                              • 36861

                              #15
                              Originally posted by mangerton View Post
                              Touch wood, I have some quite efficient spam filters, although on Thursday I received an email purporting to come from HMRC, saying I was due a tax rebate of £450.56, and would I send my bank details.

                              As we say in these parts, "Aye, right!"

                              (Scots is the only known language where a double positive equates to a negative.)
                              Well spotted! I must admit, I could easily have got caught out by that one, despite all the warnings.

                              Comment

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